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One thought on “废大专法停止贩卖高等教育 学运：高教部应有魄力诚意”

According to DEMA’s statement:
1. A university is an institute of education
2. Education is to serve scholarship and community, but not “entrepreneurship”
3. Education is not to make more money
4. The quest for more money will change the nature and direction of academic research. This change is unwelcome.
5. The management of a university cannot be based on economic consideration. Therefore, the research activities in university should be independent of economic consideration.

Reply to DEMA’s statement:
1. A university exists not only for education. Roughly speaking, a university has to serve the following purposes:
• Institute for scholarship
• Institute for education
• Institute for R&D
• Job training centre
• Socialization platform

Scholarship roughly means the processing of old knowledge and the search for new knowledge. Education roughly means teaching. R&D usually means technological development. Job training centre is to train the country’s labor force in order to support knowledge-based industries. University is also a socialization platform because people from different backgrounds and professions gather there.

Since a university is not only for education, to run a university we have to consider all the functionalities of a university.

2. It is undeniable that a university has to serve scholarship and community. At the same time, it also has to develop its other functionalities which are R&D, Job training centre, and socialization platform. R&D is inevitably the key activity for Malaysia, if modernization is one of the national visions. R&D also ensures Malaysia to be competitive in this globalization era. University is also a job training centre for knowledge-based industries. Therefore university recruits young generations who only wish to master work knowledge of certain fields, rather than to be scholarly engaged or to serve the community. One has to realize that R&D and job training are as important as scholarship. After all, through development of R&D and job-training the citizens will be benefited. In this sense, R&D and job training are to serve the community as well.

Then we have to ask, what to develop in R&D and job-training? Who know what to develop? The first answer is, the entrepreneurs know. Entrepreneurs, especially technopreneurs know what to develop in R&D and job-training. They know what kind of R&D is potential to be successful. Therefore their advices in R&D development of a university are important so that fewer resources will be wasted in non-practical R&D. They also know what kind of work force they need. Therefore, their advices for job-training are important to ensure no outdated and non-practical job-training. In the end, through the cooperation with entrepreneurs, a university can develop its functionalities (other than scholarship) better.

3. True, education is not to make more money, but education needs money to run. Who will give this big amount of money? The government? If the money mostly comes from the government, then the university will lose its independence before the government. The government will then have a bigger say in influencing the university management even though that influence is unwelcome. A better idea is, in my opinion, let the university make money on its own and yet receive sponsors from government and community at the same time. To make money on its own is to ensure higher degree of independence in university management. It is also a healthy practice because the university will then spend the money wisely.

4. First of all, the economic incentive will attract more talents into research field, or R&D. It should be undeniable that economic incentive is welcome for R&D since the motivation behind R&D is of economic. Then, how about “academic” research? Suppose “academic” research is not to make money (if they do, then we say they are R&D, in order to distinguish the special of “academic” research). Then, if “academic” research is not to make money but to consume money instead, the researchers still no need to worry about their jobs, because their jobs will always be supported if they can tell why they have to be supported. If they cannot tell why, then we have to ask them go home. We do not welcome “academic” researchers working on the “chemistry of shit”, or “the relation between mankind and their shits”, or so on.

All these are simply my personal reply to DEMA’s statement. Welcome critics and reply.